Filter papers are widely used in a variety of industrial, scientific, and food preparation applications. In particular, filter papers are commonly used to prepare coffee beverages. The worldwide use of coffee filter papers has greatly increased over the past few decades due to the growing popularity and wide availability of automatic drip coffee makers.
Filter papers for automatic drip coffee makers typically are fabricated of thin paper and have a conical, or fluted and truncated conical shape, and are sold in tightly nested stacks of fifty to one hundred or more. Because of the tight nesting, thinness of the paper, and because the filter papers tend to adhere to one another, a common annoyance is to pull more than one filter paper from the stack. This is particularly a problem for the elderly and others with limited ability to manipulate the stack of filter papers.
Some known dispensers include a filter box or container having a hinged lid to which an elongate member, such as an arm, lever or plunger is connected. Typically, the elongate member has an abrasive, adhesive, spiked or sharply pointed end, and is pivotally or slidably connected to the lid so that the member may be moved to engage and remove the topmost filter as the lid is raised. Another known dispenser includes a box with a hinged lid having an adhesive coating on the underside, and a spring within the box. The spring biases an inverted filter stack toward the lid underside so that the topmost filter on the stack adheres to the lid underside and is removed from the stack when the lid is opened. Still another known dispenser includes a box with a manual crank arm which actuates a plurality of pronged or spiked grippers which grab the topmost filter. Yet another known dispenser uses compression bars to distort the shape of the filter stack to facilitate removal of the innermost filter.
However, some known dispensers are limited to use only with filters of a particular shape. In dispensers with hinged lids, operation typically depends on the hinged connection between the lid and the container or box holding the filters, so that such dispensers are not suitable for use with other filter containers. Dispensers which use prongs, spikes or compression bars may produce punctured or torn filters, or deformed filters which do not seat well in side the coffee filter basket, possibly negatively affecting the quality of coffee brewed with the filter. Dispensers which have crank arms or other relatively complex actuating mechanisms can be awkward to use, expensive to manufacture and awkward to store. There is a need for a simple, low-cost coffee filter dispenser.
It would therefore be desirable to provide an easily used, simple and low-cost dispenser for nested, cup-shaped paper articles such as coffee filters. It would also be desirable to provide such a dispenser which effectively engages the filters without the use of prongs or spikes. It would be further desirable to provide such a dispenser which is suitable for use with a variety of filter containers and also with a variety of filter configurations. It would be still further desirable to provide such a dispenser which does not deform the shape of the filters.